Jardins de Bellevue, a garden in northern France

Visit Jardins de Bellevue

Visit the Jardins de Bellevue

The Jardins de Bellevue is a botanical garden situated in Normandy between Dieppe and Rouen.

Martine Lemoninier and her family bought the site in 1980 and Martine, who is a self taught gardener and an art graduate created this extraordinary garden with the help of her husband, and, now, her children. The gardens have been laid out in a very natural style with a walk through various sytyles of garden including a golden garden, a summer garden, a hydrangea garden and an alley of yews.

A lot of thought has been given to making the gardens interesting throughout the year and there is something to see no matter when you choose to visit. Some of the highlights are the hellebores in winter, the magnolias and rhododendrons in spring, the hydrangeas in summer and the wonderful berries and leaf colour in the autumn.

It is a garden which houses an immense variety of trees and shrubs and is home to the national collection of hellebores (Christmas rose and Lenten rose) and of meconopsis (blue himalayan poppies). To view the meconopsis visit the garden in June and for the hellebores visit in January and February.

Perhaps because of her interest in the winter flowering hellebores the garden has a large number of trees with beautiful bark which can be best admired in winter . My visit was early autumn and at this time of the year there are a terrific number of trees with berries to be admired. M Lemonnier explained to me that they are in the process of planting a lot more of these. They certainly are a beautiful sight.

As well as meconopsis and hellebores the garden has a large number and an enormous variety of hydrangeas including both macrophyllas and Japanese varieties. The Lemmoniers are firm believers in choosing the right plant for the right place and with the Normandy climate the hydrangeas are magnificent. They have even created one of their own - Hydrangea aspera 'Bellevue' which has enormous leaves and flowers.

Wandering around the garden is a real pleasure and if you are a real plant enthusiast then there are some superb plants here that you dont see in many gardens.

The garden has been awarded Jardin Remarquable status.

The garden surrounds the ancient pressoir which is now the family home.

The Jardins de Bellevue Garden Guide:

The garden is open every day from 10h00 to 18h00. Garden visits cost 8 euros for adults and 6.50 euros for 12-18 year olds.

This garden is situated in Normandy in the Seine-Maritime department between Rouen and Dieppe.